According to legend, Cloud Gate is the name of the oldest known dance in China, a ritual dance of some 5,000 years ago. In 1973, choreographer Lin Hwai-min adopted this classical name for the first contemporary dance company in any Chinese speaking community: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan.

In 1999, Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate 2 to foster young choreographers and develop education and outreach programs through its performances, workshops, lecture-demonstrations and residency projects on campuses and grass-root communities in Taiwan.

Upon founding Cloud Gate 2, Lin Hwai-min invited the renowned dancer/choreographer Lo Man-fei to serve as its Founding Artistic Director. Lo's works with Cloud Gate 2 include Pursuing the Dream (2006), All about Love (2005) and Spring in the Hospital (2004). After Lo passed away with cancer in March 2006, Lin Hwai-min resumed artistic direction of the company.

Cloud Gate 2 has and continues to invite talented choreographers in collaboration. Among them, Wu Kuo-chu choreographed Oculus (2004), ATE (2002), Life is Else-where (2002) and Tantalus (2001); and Indigenous choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava created Gloaming (2006), Foreseen (2005), Monday 2：10PM (2004), Lily (2002), UMA (2001) and Passage (2000).

Cloud Gate 2 has successfully extended its intercultural outreach to China by participating in the "2001 Modern Dance Festival in China" and presenting lecture-demonstrations at prominent universities in Beijing, Shanghai and Soochow.